I stared in numb horror at the hooded figures that I’d believed I could trust. “Why?” I whispered to Brother Sage.
He tilted his head as a dismissive look entered his eyes. “We’ve been among all of you for centuries. And so we’ll always be.”
62. Gray
THE MOON WAS COVERED BY CLOUDS as our boat cut through the black water. I couldn’t make out a mass of land ahead, but Sethi assured us it was there.
Echoing cries filled the air, long and plaintive, like the cries of small children. “What the hell is that?”
“Peacocks,” Sethi told me. “It’s deafening when you’re close to them. It’s good. The noise will help give us cover.”
Jennifer was staring straight ahead, like she hadn’t heard the birds at all. “There’s the island.”
Constance hadn’t spoken on the entire trip, just sitting and looking out at the ocean.
We landed on a pebbly shore. Reeds or tall grasses—I couldn’t tell which—rustled and swayed in the breeze.
Clouds shifted from the moon, exposing a long line of boats on the left side of us, anchors stuck deep in the sand. I spotted the chapel up high on the hill, the large cross on top jutting darkly against the moonlit sky. I couldn’t see the monastery from here, but that was good.
If we can’t see them, they can’t see us, right?
I knew that was a logical fallacy, but I needed something to hold onto. Jennifer and Sethi had been using gadgets to interfere with any surveillance devices on the island long before we even arrived. I had to hope they knew what they were doing.
Sethi jumped out and into the water. “At least we don’t have the worry of hiding the boat. Our boat shouldn’t be noticed among all of these.”
I followed Sethi into the water, helping him tug the boat into shore. Jennifer and Constance climbed out. I caught Constance’s arm as she stumbled on driftwood.
She jerked her head up at me. “God, this place. It feels . . . bad.”
I knew what she meant. Everything we’d heard about the Saviours had suddenly crystallized into something physical.
On a far hilltop, large, dark shapes moved.
I froze on the spot. If whoever was on the hill had watched us sail in, we were sitting ducks. Then I realised what they were. Peacocks. Their bodies were big enough—with their long, full tails—to resemble a man crawling. At least the peacocks might act as a kind of cover for us.
“You and Constance stay here,” Sethi told us. “Behind this rock. Keep your heads down. Until Jennifer and I return.”
“What are you going to be doing?” Constance asked anxiously.
“Looking for thermal imaging cameras,” he said quietly. “They give off a kind of heat we’ll be able to detect with our counter-imaging. If there are any, we’ll disable them.”
Constance and I kept behind the rock, tense and waiting. When Jennifer and Sethi came back, we ran up the beach and onto the hillside, staying low to the ground. We started the climb, our feet sliding on the dry soil and loose rocks.
It was a twenty-minute climb to an outer perimeter wall of the monastery.
“This is it,” Sethi told us. He reached for the rope and grappling hook over his shoulder. “Once we’re in, there might not be any coming out again.”
He lowered his head to kiss Jennifer.
“You’ve got no skin in this game,” she told him quietly. “You can leave now. You should. You got me here, and that’s enough.”
He held her in his gaze. “Your brother is my brother.”
“Wait,” Constance said urgently. “What if there’s another way?”
Sethi shook his head. “As far as I can see, this wall goes all the way around.”
“Ssh,” Jennifer cautioned. “I see something. Lights.”
I whipped around to see what she was seeing. Flashlights. Dotted around the hills. “Hell. Where’d they come from all of a sudden?”
Sethi tugged his rope, making the hook tumble down.
The four of us crouched on the ground.
The flashlights seemed to crowd together, the people coming together and moving in a single line now. Coming closer. I held my breath. If they chose to walk around the perimeter, they’d find us. We were exposed here—no trees or large rocks to hide behind. If we were going to head away to a better position, we had to go. Now.
I turned my head to Jennifer, Sethi and Constance. They were looking around, and I could guess they had the same idea.
“We can’t let them find us.” Jennifer lifted binoculars to her eyes. “God.”